三生有幸 (sān shēng yǒu xìng) — extremely lucky, fortunate beyond measure (used to express deep gratitude or honor)

Definition

A literary idiom meaning 'fortunate across three lifetimes' — used to express deep, exaggerated gratitude or honor, e.g. when meeting someone esteemed. Very formal and polite, not for casual thanks.

idiom
extremely luckyfortunate beyond measure (used to express deep gratitude or honor)

Examples

  • ，三生有幸。
    Néng rèn shi nín, zhēn shì sān shēng yǒu xìng.
    It's truly my great fortune to meet you.
  • ，三生有幸。
    Jīn tiān néng cān jiā zhè ge shèng huì, wǒ gǎn dào sān shēng yǒu xìng.
    I feel extremely honored to attend this grand gathering today.
  • 三生有幸，。
    sān shēng yǒu xìng, Néng yǒu nín zhè yàng de lǎo shī zhǐ dǎo wǒ.
    I am incredibly lucky to have a teacher like you guiding me.

Origin

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

三 is drawn as three parallel strokes, like 一 with one stroke and 二 with two.

Open 三 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
又
又yòu有yǒu
Same sound today

The form 有 combines 又, used for its sound, with a shape from 肉, 'meat'; the hand-holding-meat story is a folk explanation, not shown in the oldest shape.

Open 有 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 幸 →

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